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Public Transportation

We are planning to go to Spain in the month of September and will stay 4 days in Madrid and 4 days in Barcelona. We have heard that you can purchase a ticket that covers all transportation methods and wonder if it would be worth buying. We plan to visit Toledo while in Madrid and Monserret while in Barcelona. Is the ticket worth it or would it be just as easy and the same price to purchase transportation on a as needed basis. We have not yet made an itinery as to the other places we will visit. There is so much to do in each city! Please advise about the transportation ticket and if it is a good idea, where to buy it and the cost of the ticket if known.

You may have heard of 'a ticket that covers all transportation methods' but there is no such thing.

You are dealing with two separate transport authorities in the cities, the national rail network RENFE for your journey in between the two and your journey to Toledo and the FGC train line to Montserrat.

For Madrid to Barcelona, and for the daytrip from Madrid to Toledo just purchase a one way ticket on renfe. If you purchase in advance you can get a deeply discounted web fare - it's non refundable but the way I always try to go.

There are some exceptions to this rule, but in most of Europe (and in the few civilised slivers of America with decent public transport), inter-city trains and urban metros and buses are managed by separate authorities. They're practically never merged - and that's just as true of the US as in Europe. New York doesn't have a pass that allows for use of its metro and of trains to Washington, for example.

Yet throughout this forum, there are repeatedly questions (always from Americans) about mythical "passes", allowing, say, unlimited use of Rome's buses as well as a few trains to Milan or Naples.

Who's peddling this fantasy (this poster claims to have "heard" about it)? Is there some American con merchant offering to sell these tickets (possibly throwing in a Brooklyn Bridge or two at the same time)? Or is some exceptionally - even by American standards - uninformed travel agent pretending to knowledge she doesn't have?

Those things on the Viator website are tours, not public transportation or passes. They are generally escorted tours, by coach bus. Personally I find them very limiting because you don't get to choose what you want to do. I did take a Viator day tour from Madrid to Toledo last year, but I don't recommend it. We spent maybe 3 hours total in the old city even though it was a "full day" tour. If I had to do it again, I would definitely take a Renfe train and wander the city on my own. Whether you want to take an escorted tour depends on your travel preferences I think.

If you go the independent route - You can travel within Madrid on their metro system, which my friends and I found was pretty easy to use. We used it a lot because we stayed somewhat outside the city center - here is the English language web site - http://www.metromadrid.es/en/index.html
We bought 10-trip tickets (which you can read about on the website) for a small discount. In fact, a Madrid metro employee told us about this type of ticket - he was very helpful. More than one person can share a ticket on the Madrid metro within the city (unlike say in Washington DC where each passenger needs his or her own ticket).

I stayed at the hostal Persal, Plaza del Angel, and loved the hotel and area. It is a lovely area,and I felt quite safe walking around at night by myself. I am a senior and I purchased the senior pass that had unlimited rides on the metro and bus system. I have a very unstructured vacation plan and I love the fact that I can get on and off as many times as I like. I also used Rick Steves suggestion and took the bus to Seville. Lovely ride, easy to navigate. I always find Ira's posts quite helpful. Take all his suggestions and explore on the web.

There is a tourist travel pass that it´s sold at metro stations, at the tourist office in the Plaza Mayor ... I think this is the one that was mentioned in the Viator website. You can see more details here :http://tinyurl.com/76g4vvv
I think it is a bit expensive, unless you are going to spend your day going up and down in buses and metros ... specially given that it is a personal ticket and you cannot share it as the 10 tickets card.

Thank you for your answers. Has anyone stayed at the Agumar near the Atocha train station? My husband has that booked in Madrid where we will be for 3 days. In Barcelona we are staying at the Abba Sants for 4 days. Is anyone familiar with this hotel? Again thank you for all your answers. This is our first time to Spain and we have read so much that its hard to decide what is the right way to go.